favorite movie #111 - holiday edition: love actually

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #111 - Love Actually (2003) - This movie is more than a bit of a mess. A strung-together bunch of inter-connected stories, it features a bunch of Londoners as they muddle through the holiday season. What makes it watchable is a wonderful cast and a fantastic performance by Emma Thompson as a wife who discovers that the romantic gift she thought her husband (Alan Rickman) was getting for her was actually intended for the floozy he works with. Also charming are Liam Neeson and Thomas Sangster as a step-father and son mourning the loss of their wife and mother, respectively. Hugh Grant can't help but be charming in the absurd casting of a British PM who has fallen for his adorable staff member, played by Martine McCutcheon. Topping it all off like the naughty angel on top of the tree is Bill Nighy as aging rock star Billy Mack, who is reluctantly coerced by his longtime manager and best friend (Gregor Fisher) into recording a Christmas single to revive his sagging career. Surrender to the movie, don't think too hard about the side plots that don't work, and enjoy yourself.

Billy Mack - Christmas is All Around (Love Actually) from Christmas is All around on Vimeo.

two very different takes on traveling

I watched two very different movies that have travel as a theme, lately, The Darjeeling Limited and Non-Stop. Both were entertaining, engaging, and very, very different from one another.

Always an impressive and imposing film presence, Liam Neeson has taken over the action movie genre in recent years, with his successful Taken franchise, and movies as diverse as The Grey and The Lego Movie. In Non-Stop he plays an alcoholic air marshal with major personal issues, who is targeted on a flight by a potential terrorist who threatens to start killing passengers unless the airline transfers $150 million into an off-shore bank account. The story, if one tries to think too hard about it, is wildly improbable, but the movie is so edge-of-your-seat-fast-paced that you are unlikely to worry about plot holes until the credits have stopped rolling, and by then you've had too much fun to care. Julianne Moore is very appealing as one of the only passengers on the plane who may not think that Neeson has gone completely bonkers, and Michelle Dockery and Lupita Nyong'o play flight attendants.

Moore and Neeson try to determine who is texting all those nasty messages

Sometimes you need to change your surroundings to help get rid of your excess baggage

For a real change of pace I then watched the über laid-back The Darjeeling Limited, Wes Anderson's beautifully shot film about three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Jack (Jason Schwartzman), and Peter Whitman (Adrien Brody), on a spiritual journey across India. The trio haven't spent time together for a year, since their father's funeral, and try to work out their many comminication issues during the trip — with each other as well as their mother (Anjelica Houston). The movie is melancholy, but ultimately hopeful, and although as quirky as other Anderson films, also gives one a more peaceful, wistful feeling. It also features a killer soundtrack, with songs by The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, Joe Dassin, Peter Sarstedt, and Satyajit Ray. If you can't take a trip and travel across India, The Darjeeling Limited is a nice alternative.

the nut job

Universal Studios is releasing on Blu-ray and DVD The Nut Job on April 15. The animated film is set in the fictional town of Oakton, which, as far as its wild animal inhabitants are concerned, is in the middle of an extreme food shortage as winter fast approaches. Surly the Squirrel (Will Arnett) and his mostly mute rat buddy named Buddy march to a different drummer, and are constantly getting in trouble with the rest of the local animals. ...

Andie and Surly form an uneasy alliance

Surly checks out downtown

... The story is more than a bit frantic, and there are no real break-out characters that make an animated film a classic, but The Nut Job is amiable enough to entertain the kiddos. Whether the adults will be engaged or not depends on how much they like the look of things. And The Nut Job is great to look at - from its retro-inspired style to its bright colors and attention to detail. Especially impressive are the individual hairs on characters and rendered textures like wood and stone. The look of the film, from the styling of the buildings and backgrounds to the whole heist scenario, brings to mind classic Bugs Bunny encounters with the gangsters Rocky and Mugsy. Alas, none of the characters in The Nut Job have quite the personality of Bugs, but then, who does?

You can read my complete review on Cinema Sentries.

khumba

Millennium Entertainment is releasing Khumba, a South African animated film that has a little something for everyone. Kids will love the title character of Khumba (Jake T. Austin, (Wizards of Waverly Place), a young zebra who has been wrongfully alienated from his herd because he is different — he lacks stripes on his back half. Khumba is blamed for the drought that is plaguing the Great Karoo, where he and his herd reside. After his mother dies, the sad little zebra goes on a quest to find a mystical waterhole, and he hopes, earn his stripes. Along the way he meets a series of colorful characters, some friendly, some dangerous, and even finds himself before the credits roll.

Khumba and Skalk

Directed by Anthony Silverston, the animation is sharp and gorgeous and looks great on a large-scale high-definition television screen. The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack also includes behind-the-scenes features and interviews. English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.

While the story arc may be stereotypical, adults will love the look of the film, as well as enjoy recognizing some of their favorite actors in the supporting cast. Laurence Fishburne plays Khumba's father Seko, Liam Neeson the hungry and menacing leopard Phango, Steve Buscemi (Monsters University, Hotel Transylvania) as the wild dog Skalk, and Khumba's new-found friends, wildebeest Mama V (Loretta Devine) and ostrich Bradley (Richard E. Grant). Khumba's journeys take him through beautifully animated South African landscapes where he meets a migrating herd of Springbok and other colorful animal characters.

Back at home, Khumba's friend Tombi (AnnaSophia Robb, The Carrie Diaries) tries to convince Seko and the rest of the herd that the drought is not Khumba's fault, and that they need to find a new waterhole as well as their young friend. The film, apart from its skillful animation, also has an important message about diversity and accepting yourself for who you are. While Khumba may at first seem eerily reminiscent of other animated films like Madagascar, it does have its own quirky style and message, and its visual portrayal of the African landscape and many of its inhabitants is top-notch.

Originally published on Blogcritics: Blu-ray Review: ‘Khumba’

dvr quick takes

On a rainy day I caught up with some movies that I had missed or never even heard of before. Here are some quick takes:

The perfect movie to watch while you are deep-cleaning your carpet:

Cameron Diaz gets ready to greet the day

Bad Teacher (2011). It's not horrible, but it's not good. Jason Segel is always a welcome presence and Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, and Lucy Punch have fun with their bad roles, but if you miss some dialogue while you are running the cleaner back and forth you won't really be missing much.

The perfect movie to watch when you are hungry, but you might have to pause it and whip up something in the kitchen, especially the chef's magical trifle dessert:

Dougray Scott serves up a trifle like no other

Love's Kitchen (2011). It's a slight romantic comedy featuring a chef (Dougray Scott) and a restaurant critic (Claire Forlani) who fall in love. Scott and Forlani are a real-life couple, and have undeniable chemistry. The setting and supporting players are great (Simon Callow, Peter Bowles, Caroline Langrishe, Cherie Lunghi), but it all has a made-for-TV quality and the script really isn't up to the actors. Still, it's fun to watch. And Gordon Ramsay even makes an appearance. It's the sort of movie you watch and wait for it to get better, for things to come together, but it never quite does.

The perfect movie to watch when fantasizing about having a romantic liaison at Lake Como:

Antonio Banderas and Liam Neeson contemplate their next move

The Other Man (2008). Liam Neeson discovers that his wife, shoe designer Laura Linney, has been having an affair with another man (Antonio Banderas). Although his daughter (Romola Garai) cautions him not to, he decides to track down the man where he lives, in Milan, and get some answers. The acting again is excellent, as are the Italian locations. But the editing is deliberately confusing, trying for an arty effect at telling the story of a love triangle out of chronological order. It undercuts the performances rather than giving them more meaning. Still, it's worth a look, especially for the one-on-ones between Neeson and Banderas.

re-watching Jason and the Argonauts

My favorite movie growing up was Jason and the Argonauts. I grew up with a beautiful edition of D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths and seeing a movie like this, with Ray Harryhausen's great effects bringing my favorite hero to life was beyond a treat, it was a dream come true. Plus, Todd Armstrong as Jason was pretty cute.

I watched it again recently with my daughter and was impressed by how much fun it still is. Talos the enormous bronze warrior was still pretty scary to my almost seven year-old. At a critical point where Jason deactivates Talos my daughter yelled, "Go Percy!" I gently corrected her that it was Jason doing the heroics she was watching and not the lightning thief, but I wasn't too bothered by the slip. I think it's great that mythology is making an impact in her life, as it did in mine.

I enjoy most of the filmic attempts to bring myths to life—Clash of the Titans with Harry Hamlin, the Jason miniseries from the 90s. I even enjoyed the recent Clash of the Titans remake, even with Liam Neeson's oft-criticized "Release the Kraken!" and Ralph Fiennes honing his onscreen villainy.  It wasn't a great film, but it wasn't as bad as it was reviewed. The Medusa segment was a nice homage to Harryhausen and the addition of the female character of Io on most of the quest was a welcome addition. I saw it on the small screen, so didn't have to deal with the reportedly sloppy 3D conversion.

When I was a kid my mom also had a huge crush on Steve Reeves, so whenever any of his Italian-produced Hercules movies came on television we were all sure to be front and center. The Kevin Sorbo series was always a lot of fun, too. The two Odysseus depictions, Ulysses with Kirk Douglas and The Odyssey with Armand Assante are way over-the-top, primarily due I think to their larger-than-life leading men—but they are still a lot of fun to watch.

Some might consider this 1963 film a little cheesy or primitive compared to today's CGI special effects. But I still feel that this film is superior to all of those listed above. As a Greek myth-nerd, I love the little touches of authenticity, like the goofy beards and costumes of the Colchians, the painted shields of the Argonauts. The Argo is correctly depicted, as is the rowing technique used to propel her from Greece to Colchis. And how could you not love Harryhausen's many-headed hydra and the fighting skeletons?

Little references to the deeper mythology of Jason—his knowledge of healing, his complicated relationship with Medea—she declares his love for him and he accepts it, but it's hardly a true romance, which bodes ill for everyone's future—these are all touches that make re-viewing the film a pleasure. Jason, like another mythological hero I love, Batman, is a normal guy who becomes a hero out of necessity. His evil uncle has cheated him out of the throne of Iolcus and Jason must go on the quest for the Golden Fleece to prove himself and get the throne back for his family. His quest for the Fleece requires his gathering an assembly of superheroes: the Boreads, Heracles, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, Atalanta—talk about a justice league. Jason is also a tragic figure, although this movie doesn't take his story that far. As Zeus says at the close of the film, "For the moment, let them enjoy a calm sea, a fresh breeze and each other. The girl is pretty and I am always sentimental. But for Jason, there are other adventures. I have not finished with Jason. Let us continue the game another day."

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life is a cabaret, old chum

I saw Natasha Richardson in Cabaret in New York quite a few years ago. It was a wonderful birthday present from a friend who was able to get us discounted tickets because of her current theater-related job. We saw it at Studio 54, which was tricked up to look like a real cabaret, with decadent-looking waitresses taking your drink orders throughout the performance. I was most excited walking into the theater at the prospect of seeing Alan Cumming as the Emcee and he exceeded all my expectations and then some, working the stage and the audience with impish glee. My most pleasant surprise of the evening was Richardson. I didn't know what to expect and she was wonderful - beautiful, singing well, and bringing a real edge to the character. After the show, while we were waiting outside the theater to catch a glimpse of Cumming, Richardson came out quite quickly, was gracious talking to the waiting folks, and then quietly grabbed a cab. A New York moment.

Right now I can only think of what her family is going through and especially her kids. And the irony of Liam Neeson playing a shattered widower and single parent in the silly ensemble piece Love Actually, who now has to take on the role in his real life. I was never an existentialist. I don't sit around and ponder why we must be born to die, etc., etc., or the absurdity of life when my time could be better spent living. I do from time to time regret that life seems to be so filled with the things we don't want to do, but seemingly have to do, in order to grab moments of the things we really want to do. When someone dies in this manner, before their time, it always underlines for the rest of us how precious and fleeting life is. An accomplished actress, Richardson would have been all too familiar with these lines from Macbeth:

SEYTON
The queen, my lord, is dead.

MACBETH
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

All my best wishes to her family.